R.I.P. TTIP?

[JDPriestly]

49. I want to have a say in whether a company can pollute the air in the

area in which I live. The TPP will not allow me to have that say, not in any meaningful way.

People who feel bound to each other geographically should be able to form a government amongst themselves and govern themselves. That is what self-government means.

I do not want to have people in Singapore involved in the law-making in my country or my area of my state or my city.

The reason is quite simple: People in Singapore don't know anything about what it is like to live where I live, what the shared values are of the people who live in my community (the City of Los Angeles, California to be exact), our needs, our priorities or our general personality. The people in Singapore don't know our customs, our religious tolerance, or much of anything about our culture.

And I know very little about all those aspects of life in Singapore.

That's why we don't want international corporations suing our country and forcing us to pay them a ransom to get them to leave us alone when we want to be left alone to make our own rules.

California is a state with people from diverse backgrounds. Nevertheless, we have a unique culture. The United States has a unique culture. Americans differ as to their values depending on where they live within the US but also share fundamental values.

We do not want decisions made about what goes on in the US by people who have never lived here.